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Friday, June 1, 2012

Home sweet freakin' home (my whirlwind tour of two cities)

Time to catch up! I am so glad it is Friday and it is storming outside
so I have every excuse to stay in and relax. This will be my first
weekend at home in over two weeks! A couple weeks ago I attended a work
conference out West and scheduled some extra time for sightseeing. It was
awesome (and exhausting)! I finally got to see what In-N-Out Burger is
all about and I ordered my burger animal-style... twice in one week
(oops).

It is a canyon and it is grand. I felt like I was on a movie set.

A coworker and I took trips to the Grand Canyon (oooh) and Red Rock Canyon (ahhh), and of course we spent one afternoon/evening on the Vegas strip. We walked in excess of 4.5 miles that day, which is great because I was super bummed to find out that the hotel fitness center had extremely limited hours which did not work with my conference schedule. I ended up getting creative one day and swam laps while coworker shouted study questions at me. I even did some pool running, which I'm pretty sure looked really strange.

The water show at the Bellagio always makes me think of Oceans Eleven.

My favorite excursion was the tour we took of Red Rock Canyon. It's offered by Scoot City Tours and I highly recommend looking in to them if you're ever in Vegas or Sedona. We got to drive around in 2-passenger scooter cars!! OK, I let coworker drive because his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning when we got in the scooters. Plus, I was more than happy to enjoy the sights and take the photos! It was the most beautiful, funny, relaxing morning I have had in a while and it was awesome.

Look at the scooter cars!! Look at the view! How could anyone not like this?!

After an exhausting week out West I flew home, spent one night in my bed, woke up and got in a car en route to New York for a family wedding. The exhaustion continued! Having grown up in NY I was excited to return home to some of my favorite foods that just don't taste right outside of NY - pizza and bagels. Oh, the amount of pizza and bagels I ate! I tried to balance out the rest of my meals with salad and other light fare but I definitely indulged on this trip.

The wedding was completely awesome. I have never been to a wedding where the bride/groom's family rivaled the craziness of my own but this was a match made in heaven! At one point half of the wedding guests were wearing bonnets crafted from their dinner napkins and the bride's brother was hanging from a chandelier. I seriously can't wait to see the pictures. While in NY I fully intended on running around the neighborhood at least two of the five days I was in town. That never happened but I did dance my ass off at the wedding. I have noticed a trend now, at the past few weddings I've attended, where I completely miss the arrival of dessert and cake because I'm still on the dance floor. It's a pretty good trade-off actually!

Look, a squirrel!

After a LOT of time (50+ hours!!) spent sitting down over the last two weeks and having eaten a lot of delicious food, I was sure I had gained at least five pounds. Last night I committed myself to going to Zumba and being active. I showed up and chatted with my Zumba friends and waited. And waited. And waited. Twenty-five minutes later we finally received word that our instructor was sick and class was cancelled. SO disappointing!

By that time it was 8pm and I knew the sun would be setting shortly. I went home, jumped out of the car and went for a 2.2 mile run. A few minutes in to the run I realized I was still wearing my (completely unsupportive) Zumba shoes instead of my running shoes but I kept going. It felt good to finally be active in a way that was familiar to my body. I have really missed running over the past couple of weeks and I have noticed a difference in my body and my attitude when I do not run.

Today is my Friday Weigh-Day and when I stepped on that scale this morning I nearly fell off in shock. Not only had I not gained five pounds, I actually LOST 1.6 pounds! What the what?! Not that I'm complaining... Tomorrow begins my half-marathon training and I will be waking up at the butt-crack of dawn on a Saturday. This both upsets and pleases me. We shall see how it goes but I'm extremely excited to be part of such a large running group. More updates to come, enjoy your weekend!!

2 comments:

This looks like a fun trip!! It is my DREAM to go to Vegas! I'm slightly addicted to casinos!! But I don't fly. :-( If I ever get the chance to take a roadtrip out there, I'll surely do it! And congrats on the -1.6lbs!

It was so much fun, Cherie! Believe it or not, it was my coworker's first time on a plane! I thought he was going to rip the arm rest right off the seat, he was gripping it so hard when we took off lol. But once we were safely back on the ground he said he could definitely do that again and it was no big deal. Proud of him for that! A road trip out west would be awesome though - I'm pretty sure you can take 40 allll the way there! And thanks for the congrats :)

Hi, I'm bang!
I started my weight loss journey in 2008 and still consider myself a work-in-progress. Along the way I've discovered a love of running and, most recently, lifting. My goal is to challenge myself by trying new things, and to uncover a fitter, healthier, happier me. What I lack in experience, I
make up for in passion. I am committed to change.